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Terrorist Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein fired shots at a free speech forum and Jewish synagogue in Copenhagen on Valentine’s Day, killing two people.Kjestine Tatarata, a senior from Denmark studying business, said, “The police found and shot him right outside my old apartment in Copenhagen.” She continued, explaining how this fits in with the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks in France. “Since then, we thought something could happen in Denmark. It seems like there is a growing number of radicalized people.” The Swedish artist Lars Vilks attended the Feb. 14 forum, and told CNN he has gone into hiding after escaping unharmed. “He believes he was likely the target of the attack. Vilks, known for his controversial depictions of the Prophet Mohammed, is on an Al Qaeda hit list,” reported CNN. CNN said the drawings depicted the prophet Muhammad as a dog, which is a very offensive gesture toward Islam.According to the report, “A 55-year-old man, identified as a filmmaker by local media, died in that attack and three police officers were injured. Hours later, the same gunman killed a 37-year-old member of a synagogue and wounded two police officers in a second attack outside a girl’s bat mitzvah celebration in central Copenhagen.”CNN also said El-Hussein posted allegiance to ISIS on Facebook right before he went to the first attack. Native resident of Denmark Louise Andersen said, “Personally, I find these cases more frustrating than ever, as we’ve seen the reactions from Muslim extremists to these drawings countless times before. I find it unnecessary to make the point of our freedom of speech further.” Andersen continued, “But the opposite has seemed to happen. Danish people have emphasized more than ever that our freedom of speech and opinion is vital to our society, and that giving that up would compromise the identity of our country.” Olivia Oquist, a junior from Sweden studying marketing, said these attacks were surprising to her. Oquist said, “Sweden is like a vanilla country. We never are really involved in much and so it’s scary when things happen like this because it is so close to home.”Political Science Professor Brian Houghton, who has been a counterterrorism analyst since 1986, said, “Sending a message through violence for a political cause makes it terrorism. We call guys like El-Hussein ‘homegrown.’ According to CNN, he was a Danish citizen with Palestinian origin and a criminal, gang-related history. This is another thing we see quite often; individuals become more extreme, violent, and radicalized after they go to prison.” Houghton continued, “In Paris and Denmark, you have individuals who have self-radicalized, meaning that these people are not members of a terrorist organization. They didn’t go to training camps. Rather, they have gone online, watched videos, and read literature that they agree with, and they start to commit violent acts.”The Washington Times reported that more than 500 people were in attendance at El-Hussein’s burial in February.Uploaded March 5, 2015

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake affected 8 million people in Kathmandu valley, Nepal, on Saturday, April 25, and relief efforts are still underway to reach all the damaged areas. The tremors left over 4,300 dead, 8,000 injured, and millions homeless. Humanitarian aid assisted the injured and recovered the bodies as a devastated Nepal mourns the destruction, according to AP. More than 90 percent of the houses were destroyed in the Gorkha district in Nepal, a small district where the epicenter of the earthquake was located, leaving thousands homeless. The houses had poor infrastructures, unlike some of the newly built concrete buildings that remain standing, reported AP. Those affected by the earthquake have a desperate need for food and clean water. Because of the disaster, citizens of Nepal have lost their livestock and homes and have no way of getting food without outside help. Most of the people were reported to be out of their homes working in the fields when the earthquake struck.Helicopters, soldiers, and humanitarian aid workers carried injured victims from Gorkha and other rural areas. Some were only reachable by helicopter because of jammed roads and landslides, according to AP. Weather problems such as rain, wind, and cloud cover have prevented some helicopters from landing in areas close to the epicenter. Soldiers have worked to send medical kits, water bottles, dehydrated food, sacks of rice and blankets to Gorkha, said AP. Nepal is famous for Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. Eighteen people were confirmed dead from avalanches caused by the earthquake, which also damaged the base camp. Other unharmed climbers who desire to finish climbing the mountain are waiting for the government to allow them to proceed, said AP.Twenty-five people were found dead from the earthquake in Tibet, a neighboring country. According to AP, the Nepalese have nothing left, leaving this to be a long-term emergency requiring attention in the coming years.Deseret News reported that Bishnu Adhikari, a Nepalese Latter-day Saint featured in the film “Meet the Mormons,” is safe. He is coordinating a relief effort with the government.Jared McClellan, a sophomore from California studying political science, witnessed the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and said, “Japan is used to earthquakes. When an earthquake like this hits Nepal, more people are hurt.” He added, “I’ve met people from Nepal, and they are very kind and loving. They have a passion for helping the poor. I think this will cause people to band and stick together through these times of trial. It will give them a chance to show their love.”Social media has helped spread the awareness of the disaster and Facebook has started a fund-raiser to help those in Nepal. Bethany James, a freshman studying biology from New Zealand, was shocked when she first heard about the earthquake. She thought students should “donate money on Facebook” because fund-raisers would be able to help victims, who have lost their homes. James said, “I don’t think they have enough funds to make it more secure if they wanted to. If 90 percent of buildings collapsed, I don’t know if the funds provided would help.” Davisson Oliveira, a freshman studying computer science from Brazil, said, “I think we should be helping them through the church because the church has tools to help.” Students can help by donating through the LDS Church humanitarian aid fund, according to the humanitarian service website.May 21, 2015

The recent deaths of three Muslim students at North Carolina State in Chapel Hill may be ruled a hate crime.“We know this is a hate crime. We know that Islamophobia is real and very much alive in this country,” said William Gyles, a senior majoring in biochemistry from Illinois. Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21; and her sister, Razan Mohammed Abu-Salha, 19, were found dead on Feb. 10th at the newly married couple’s apartment. A grand jury has indicted Craig Hicks on three counts of first-degree murder, according to the Durham County Clerk’s office. Hicks was also charged with using a firearm inside of an occupied home. County police told media outlets, “an ongoing neighbor dispute over parking” may have been the cause of the fatal altercation, but officials are not throwing out the possibility of a hate crime. Barakat graduated with honors from N.C State in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Barakat’s wife Yusor graduated from N.C. State last fall with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences. Yusor had just recently been accepted into the UNC dentistry program. Razan, Yusor’s younger sister, was a sophomore in N.C. State’s college of design, majoring in architecture. “Needless to say, these three young people had so much ahead of them. It pains me to think that this is happening to my brothers and sisters everywhere. It’s always the same headline, they just change up the campus every now and then,” remarked Karima Selah, a Muslim student at the University of Hawaii Manoa.The FBI defines a hate crime as, “a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias.”CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin said, “To qualify as a hate crime, all that matters is that the crime was motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias.”According to the university’s recent press release, N.C. State has created a scholarship program called “Our Three Winners” that will provide annual support to students in N.C. State’s Poole College of Management, College of Sciences and the College of Design. Chancellor Randy Woodson said along with the announcement of the scholarship, “Deah, Yusor and Razan exemplified the best of N.C. State and will forever serve as role models for our student body.” Woodson continued, “Each was not only an outstanding student, but individually and as a family lived their lives bringing joy to others, helping those in need and making the world a better place.”Prior to his death, Deah Barakat created a GoFundMe site to help provide medical care for Syrian refugees. Since his, his wife’s and sister-in-law’s passing, the page has received more than $335,000. According to Barakat’s cousin, Rula Dweydari, the money will be used to set up clinics for Syrian refugees in Turkey in memory of the three Muslim students.Uploaded Feb. 25, 2015

In order for the Ke Alaka’I to function it takes a lot of work and effort. Sister Leeann Lambert is the adviser, mastermind, and the driving force behind our campus news magazine. We caught up with her to talk about her beginnings as a writer and where she expects the Ke Alaka’I to go in the future. Q: How long have you been at the reins of the Ke Alaka‘i? A: I have been here twice. I was here from 1992 to 1996 doing this same job but went back to California when my father was terminally ill. When I returned to California where I am from, I worked as a writer and editor at a local newspaper for eight years, taught at another college and got my master’s degree. When I started looking for another university job, this same job at the Ke Alaka‘i was open. I applied and they decided to hire me back. I have been here the second time since 2005.Q: What is the most challenging part of producing a weekly news magazine?A: The most challenging part is getting everything in on time. We have to gather together edited stories, photos, graphics, ads and even people to get it all done by the deadline. Juggling all those variables, combined with all our employees being students who have to attend classes and get homework and tests done, is definitely a challenge. When someone or something is late, it delays everything. Sometimes technology is also the problem. If the power goes out, we are at a standstill. If the printer can’t get the file with the magazine on it to work right, we have to figure out how to fix it. One little glitch can really create havoc if we can’t figure out how to resolve it.Q: Where did you start your writing career?A: I first noticed a love of writing when I was in high school. I did storytelling mainly, but I loved it and was good at it. When I went to college at BYU in Provo, I didn’t know what to major in but my mom suggested journalism. I thought she was crazy because I didn’t see myself as a journalist. In the late 1970s, it wasn’t exactly what you saw a lot of women doing – especially Mormon women. My mom saw me writing for magazines doing stories about where to go on vacation, how to grow a garden, or how to recover your worn-out sofa. Interestingly enough when I was a feature writer for a newspaper, I did write a lot of stories like that.But when I was in college, I tried out a variety of majors but gravitated to the communications field. Finally I broke down and took a news writing course and I liked it. Then I took the class where you wrote for BYU’s student newspaper “The Daily Universe.” I remember calling up the governor’s office and actually having people call me back with a statement from him. I was amazed and I was hooked. I loved it because I learned something new every day and then I got to share what I learned with other people. Being a journalist is a lot like being a teacher. Q: What got you into writing and what inspires you to write?A: I am a people person. People fascinate me and I love to observe them and learn about them. Maybe it’s because I was born the fifth child out of seven girls in my family. I grew up with all this commotion around me and I loved it. My family was very busy with school, church, work, friends, family and community. We were involved in sports, the arts, the out-of-door; you name it. There was never a dull moment in our household. I am also a curious person by nature and I love learning. So journalism feeds that desire to know and understand the world around me.Q: What’s your favorite style of writing?A: I have been a government reporter and an education reporter, but I liked being a feature writer the best. I was a feature writer for eight years and loved every day of it because I met great people and learned interesting things. But I also love being a teacher. Working with students and seeing them learn and develop their talents is also rewarding to me. Plus I get to use the talents I have to help them. Q: Where do you get your news?A: I would have said a few years ago newspapers and broadcast news. But now I get a lot of news from social media. It isn’t in-depth news but it is breaking news that’s delivered directly to me. Then I will go to the more traditional media to get the details on whatever is happening. So much of news online is about celebrities or trivial information. But sadly, that is the kind of news that gets the most hits online. News organizations need to make money to survive and selling advertising makes money. Advertisers want to work with media sources that get the most hits, so societal trends are governing more and more what news sources publish. We may be getting the news we want, but I think we are missing out on news we need at the same time.I still read the newspaper and magazines, but I also read news online. And like everyone else I read other people’s Facebook posts and even texts I get from people are newsy. A text is how I found out President Gordon B. Hinckley had passed away. Q: If you could work for any news outlet what would it be?A: There is a guy who works for CBS News who just does feature stories on people all across America. His name is Steve Hartman and he does a segment called On The Road. I believe every person has a story that can be told and this guy does stories on everyday people just being their everyday best selves. I would love to do that job because people are what matter the most to me.Q: What is the best part about going to work every day?A: The best part of working at the Ke Alaka‘i is working with the students here. They are truly great and I love to see them gain new insights and skills. We have writers, editors, photographer, graphic artists and videographers who all come to us with varying abilities. I especially love those moments when they have been stretched to try and do something new or different and it all works out well. Seeing their satisfaction with a job well done is so rewarding.Q: What was the most memorable story you ever covered as a writer?A: This is a hard question because I wrote a story a day for years when I was a feature writer. I did a story on a marine biologist named Urmas Kaldveer who took people on eco-vacations and they monitor the destruction of reefs off the coast of Mexico. One day at sunrise he headed out into the ocean in a kayak. He had a headset on listening to inspiring music and suddenly all around him where scores of dolphins jumping and swimming. He said that sight felt like a gift from god.I also wrote story about a Kiribati LDS Church member named Iotua Tune. He translated the Book of Mormon into his native language. He had gone to Salt Lake City and translated it there in the temple. Then he took his translation home to Kiribati and a group of people sat around a table for days reading the Book of Mormon for the first time in their own language. That was a memorable story.But I wrote an obituary once for Glen Pinoli, a man who was a member of the church who died in a freak car accident while in his 40s. He was well known in the community because he worked for the forestry and fire departments along the coast of Northern California, was a Boy Scout leader, was active in the community, and was the former bishop. He was driving the car with his family in it when it rolled. He was the only person who died. Everyone else survived with barely any injuries. When people found out he had passed away, all along the coast flags were lowered to half mast in honor of him. Hundreds of people attended his funeral. Friends from fire and forestry stations for miles came with their fire trucks and took part in a several-miles long ceremonial drive from chapel to his burial place. Scottish bagpipes where played at his funeral services. He was also a decorated U.S. Marine plus a returned LDS missionary who had served in Italy. But my favorite part of the whole thing was one of his sons, also a returned missionary, quoted part of the Book of Mormon in honor of his father. It was Alma 48:17, and he inserted his father’s name instead of Caption Moroni’s name. The scripture says: “Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.” It was a tribute I will never forget plus I got to quote the Book of Mormon in a news story. Q: Where do you see the Ke Alaka‘i going in the future?A: We live in a digital age so as technology evolves the Ke Alaka‘i will continue to evolve too. We already have a Youtube channel, a Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, and our website kealakai.byuh.edu. We print our magazine but it too is available online at Issuu. There is something great about being able to pick up a printed Ke Alaka‘i and read about yourself and your friends. Our magazine has a local focus and thanks to the university is free for everyone to read.

The Yamagata International Film Festival was held on Thursday September 26th in the Aloha Center Ballroom. The festival presented short videos of students saying thank you to the Gene and Allison Yamagata, the founders of the Yamagata Foundation, for funding their internships.Cory Roberts, the CFO and COO of the Yamagata Enterprises Family Office, said, “The purpose of the foundation is to provide financial support for the students to be able to return to their home countries and other countries to perform internships. We want them to be able to obtain jobs and return to become both civic leaders as well as business leaders in their homelands.”Suthi “Saydi” Siriphan, a senior from Thailand studying international cultural studies, is the marketing and social media specialist for the BYUH Career services and was in charge of the event. He wanted to show appreciation to the Yamagata's in a creative way. “The program has helped 1,500 BYUH students over the past ten years. So we asked the most recently funded students to make a short video containing highlights of their internship and a message of gratitude. Then we put them all together to make a contest out of it,” Saydi said.Students who attended were able to vote for their favorite video by liking it on the Career Services’ Facebook page. The panel of judges included staff of the Yamagata Foundation, Career Services, and LDS Philanthropies from Utah.Nowah Afangbedji, a senior in biology from Tobo, Africa, did his internship in Ghana and won the first place prize: an iPad 4 and gift card. “I’m very grateful for this,” Nowah said. “I’m out of words. I’m so thankful for all the services we have here that made this possible for me.”Merwin Grant, Gene Yamagata’s attorney for twenty-five years and staff of the Yamagata Enterprise Family Office, said that they want students to be proud of coming to BYUH. “We want leaders that can lead the Church and help the young kids grow up and become successful students. We want them to say with pride, ‘I went to BYU-Hawaii’!”When speaking of the foundation, Brother Yamagata said, “Right now the program is exclusively for BYU-Hawaii students. Here is where it started, has grown and where it’s probably going to stay permanently.” Sister Yamagata said, “We love it here because of the students. They’re dedication and hard work are making this program a success. It’s really been inspiring to us and a big blessing.”Brother Yamagata is originally from Idaho and served his mission in Japan. In 1983, he founded Forever Living Products Japan Inc, a multimillionaire personal-care products business that exports goods from the U.S. to Japan. Sister Yamagata is originally from Denver, Colorado. They now live in Las Vegas, Nevada.

To fill the gap between the time students start their mission papers and actually leave to serve a mission, a non-credit, pre-mission training course will now be offered on the campus of BYU-Hawaii. This new course was developed by Elder Frogley, a missionary teaching in the Religion Department, along with an advisory committee that consists of Robert Quinn, Elder Sidney Henderson and BYUH President Steven C. Wheelwright. People invited to join the class include anyone who has had their first interview with the stake president to begin their mission papers and others with bishop and stake presidency approval. “The course was conceived by our two YSA stake presidents who encountered that difficult reality of missionaries getting very excited to serve, beginning papers but then wait four to five months before leaving on their missions,” said Elder Frogley. “Several mini-miracles coalesced to bring together the teaching content including media support and text that would not duplicate the “Missionary Preparation” Religion class nor be redundant to the MTC curriculum.”Hone Heke, a junior in supply chain from New Zealand, said, “This course will allow future missionaries to become more acquainted with the resources that will be available to the throughout their missions.”The course goals, as outlined by Elder Frogley, are:-Deepening participants doctrinal understanding-Deepening participants conversion as a disciple of Christ-Learning to communicate the Doctrines of Christ-Giving pre-missionaries practical experience with missionary workLatu Ta’ofi, a senior in human resources from Tonga, said, “I think this course will help the future missionaries teach and preach the gospel with confidence and happiness, believing in everything they will share with our non-member friends and family.”The pre-mission training class meets Tuesday and Thursday from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., and Sunday from 6 to 7 p.m. The Sunday class is followed by 15 minutes of a mini correlation meeting with the full-time mission to involve the pre-missionaries in the upcoming week’s proselyting. The class meets in the Heber J. Grant Building room 273, the main chapel.